Match Preview: Crewe Alexandra vs Bolton Wanderers

Tomorrow we host Phil Parkinson and his Bolton Wanderers side in the 1st round of the Carabao Cup as both sides look towards a potential tie against a Premier League club in the next round (which is scheduled to take place in a fortnight).

Since their promotion to the Championship in the summer, Parkinson has bought some useful players to help them stay in the league signing Adam le Fondre from Cardiff City as well as Aaron Wilbraham from Bristol City and the loan signing of England Under-21 international Adam Armstrong to add to Gary Madine up top for the Trotters. Also arriving to the Macron Stadium are attacking midfielders Will Buckley and Sammy Ameobi whilst they`ve also strengthened at the back with the arrivals of full-backs Mark Little, Stephen Darby and Andrew Taylor from Bristol City, Bradford City and Wigan Athletic respectively.

Crewe Alexandra Team News:This game comes too early for George Ray as he goes for a scan to see whether his stress fracture has healed whilst midfielder James Jones will miss both this game and Saturday`s home league game with Newport County (he`ll probably be involved in the Under-23s trip to Ipswich next Monday) and striker Jordan Bowery played 80 minutes in the game at Whitchurch Alport last night. The Railwaymen could welcome back left-back Zoumana Bakayago from a knee injury into the match-day squad.

Bolton Wanderers Team News:Defender David Wheater (back) and midfielder Josh Vela (ankle) both miss out after being replaced in Sunday`s 3-2 home defeat to Leeds. They will also be missing Sammy Ameobi (knee) but hope that Darren Pratley recovers from a virus. Adam Armstrong and Aaron Wilbraham should both start whilst Filipe Morais could be back following a knee injury.

Last Time Out:Crewe Alexandra 2-3 Bolton Wanderers (AET), League Cup, 26th August 2014

In the only other game that the two clubs have played in the League Cup saw Brad Inman give the hosts an early lead in the 2nd minute before captain Darren Pratley equalised 5 minutes before half-time with a header from close range. Jermaine Beckford gave the visitors what looked like the victory in the 90th minute with a close-range volley before Marcus Haber scored with a header from an Inman cross in 8th minute of injury time. Beckford would have the final say in the 100th minute as he tucked the ball under the advancing Ben Garratt.

Head-to-Head:Looking back through the archives, the 2 clubs have met 21 times with Bolton dominating Crewe 11 wins to 4 with 6 draws. The biggest win for Crewe was a 3-1 victory at the then-Reebok Stadium in April 1999 whilst Bolton`s biggest win came in the first meeting between the clubs in the FA Cup back in February 1896.